The 61st annual Garden Writers Associationannual symposium took place this past week, hosted by a fabulous group of Raleigh garden communicators who put together a great lineup of uncommon gardens, mouthwatering menus and Southern hospitality. The occasion drew 655 registrants, the second-largest gathering ever in GWA’s history after Philadelphia/Brandywine Valley in 2006.

More than our profession’s top event for education, inspiration and networking, the symposium is an affirmation that what we do every day is connect people with the natural world and the environment of plants, water, soil, sun, and animals through stories and photographs. Garden writers communicate information and share inspiration, so that’s why I love and value how I spend my life.

This week on Shedstyle, I will feature a day-by-day recap of my week in North Carolina. I’ll start with Monday & Tuesday:

with my new garden friends, Charlie and Lois Brummitt

I flew to Greensboro, NC, to be welcomed as a guest speaker for the Guilford County Horticultural Society. Because my lecture was scheduled for Monday evening, I arrived very late Sunday and was met by Lois and Charlie Brummitt, two gracious garden hosts.

They gave me a cozy, quiet place to stay, let me sleep in on Monday, made sure I had a mug of English breakfast tea and a scone (along with Internet service to do a little writing in the AM). Lois and her friend Nanny took me out to lunch at Undercurrent, a lovely restaurant (spinach salad for me; oysters and quail salad, respectively, for them – Southern specialties!).

We then toured some of Greensboro’s great private, residential gardens, including the gracious Southern gardens of landscape designer and historian Chuck Callaway and the expansive backyard spread created by Diane Flint. Then we headed for Graham Ray’s woodland landscape.

Graham has devoted 40 years to cultivating his property using a plantsman’s keen intuition to design harmonious compositions of excellent plants in just the right setting. Some of these photos will just have to speak for themselves.

The “buckeye” shown at the top of this page is Aesculus pavia or Red Buckeye, native to the Eastern U.S. and a relative of the Common Horse Chestnut often seen in Seattle (Aesculus hippocastanum). It grows in Graham’s garden and he gave me a pocketful of several to carry home with me. I hope they bring me good fortune!

with my new garden friends, Charlie and Lois Brummitt

These wonderful old-timey metal lawn chairs were once owned by Charlie's mother and repainted blue by Lois.

Hanging throughout the garden from tree branches, strings of crystals and mirrors

Lois and Charlie's hosta-filled backyard is a shade-garden extraordinaire

I love bottle trees of all kinds, and I really love the one Lois created!

The Greensboro audience gets ready for my slide show - a great turnout

In the foreground is the miniature conifer and rock garden designed by Graham Ray

One of countless wonderful plant combinations conjured by Graham Ray

This border knocked me out - I love how Graham mixes conifers and evergreens with tropicals and annuals

The Greensboro audience gets ready for my slide show - a great turnout

We arrived at the local Natural Science Center in time for me to set up my slides and meet Lynda Waldrep, who made it all possible as the society’s program coordinator. A special thanks to Lee and Larry Newlin of Garden Discovery Toursfor suggesting me and my talk on The Abundant Garden (“Lush and Layered”).

My audience was superb and generous. We had fun conversing about design, plants, and ornamentation in the landscape. And surprisingly, there’s much that North Carolina and Western Washington gardens have in common, including the predominant green palette.

PS, a late dinner of Italian red wine and gourmet pizza, back at Charlie and Lois’s house, was a perfect capper to my 24 hours in Greensboro. We went out to see their garden at night and Charlie pointed out Venus in the sky – magical.

Before I left the next morning, I battled a few mosquitoes to stroll through and snap a few photos of their landscape. It’s a place I hope to return to in the future, to be with new friends and kindred spirits.

with my new garden friends, Charlie and Lois Brummitt

These wonderful old-timey metal lawn chairs were once owned by Charlie's mother and repainted blue by Lois.

Hanging throughout the garden from tree branches, strings of crystals and mirrors

Lois and Charlie's hosta-filled backyard is a shade-garden extraordinaire

I love bottle trees of all kinds, and I really love the one Lois created!

The Greensboro audience gets ready for my slide show - a great turnout

In the foreground is the miniature conifer and rock garden designed by Graham Ray

One of countless wonderful plant combinations conjured by Graham Ray

This border knocked me out - I love how Graham mixes conifers and evergreens with tropicals and annuals

So nice to have you here in NC but even better that you were within about 30 minutes of my house when you toured these gardens in Greensboro. I love that fact.

I am thrilled to have a copy of your book Stylish Sheds and it is still my inspiration for little Copper Top Cottage–so you must come back and see it in the Spring.
.-= Anna/Flowergardengirl´s last blog ..Rate a Prairie Coneflower’s numbing power =-.

What fun to come across your blog while googling Graham Ray. I just returned from an overnight stay with Charlie and Lois Brummitt who hosted me for the Guildford Horticultural Symposium where I was a speaker (I had a scone for breakfast, too). Lois took me to Graham Ray’s garden (wonderful, especially the camellias at this time of year), and to Chip Callaway’s. I’m eager to go back. Catriona Tudor Erler, http://www.JoyofGardens.com